Fishtails
by BigGayDistraction
Summary: Can Arizona and Eliza weather the turbulence of being together when it could possibly divide those Arizona has come to love as family? Will Eliza win over the woman she has grown so smitten with, or will she destroy everything in her path?
1. Chapter 1

Arizona Robbins found herself in a free fall, every ounce of her being tingled from head to toe as the soft, sweet taste of Eliza Minnick took ownership of her mouth. It had been so long since she felt her whole body come alive and she wanted more, much more, too much maybe.

Pulling apart from the kiss, the blonde locked eyes with the woman before her, running a single finger down the center of Dr. Minnick's perfect lips, wiping the moisture that remained from their kiss, "I think you should come home with me." Arizona smiled with that familiar twinkle that made the dark haired doctor go weak.

Eliza Minnick, let her weight fall against the nearby wall bracing herself for the words that she knew would be incredibly hard to say in this moment feeling her whole body on fire with total consuming want for Arizona, who was finally standing exactly where she had wanted her to be for months now. Taking a moment to simply gaze into the breathtaking blue eyes that pooled before her, she was fixated on the blonde; Dr. Minnick could not help but smile.

"I can't believe I am saying this, but here is the thing Arizona, when I said we could be something I meant it, and that "something" I was talking about was not about going too fast, too soon. Do I want to go home with you and make love? Unable to resist the look which appears on Arizona's face, she pulls the woman forward allowing her mouth to be just a bit greedy and more forceful this time in gaining access with the tip of her tongue. Feeling the weight of Arizona on her body is almost too much to bear, pulling away as she pants out the one word answer to her own question. "Yes." Continuing, she takes Arizona's hands into her own. "Yes, I want to make love to you, and hold you, and fall asleep with you in my arms, and make you brown butter, blueberry pancakes in the morning wearing nothing but a shirt that smells like you. I want all of these things so much, but we have to go slow, Arizona." Plus people still hate me around here, and I don't want to drag you into the middle of everything right now.

Arizona takes a deep breath knowing Eliza is right, that if this is to be anything at all worth having they have to at least try to not let this thing be all consuming, especially with the staff so divided on Eliza even being at the hospital in the first place.

"Milkshakes, how do you feel about milkshakes, Dr. Minnick?"

They sat at the old ragged linoleum counter lazily slurping their milkshakes, Arizona sucking a long drink from the striped straw sticking out from her glass, Eliza can't help but smile at her, "Robbins, I can't believe you brought me to a place named "Dick's" for milkshakes.

Playfully looking up, "Hey, they have the best burgers and shakes in town!"

"Well I am relieved you are not a shy eater." Watching the blonde take a giant bite of her burger, swallowing as she blurts out, "I am too tired and hungry to be shy right now. Bailey pulled me into her embolectomy, that turned into a heart and clotting issue once she opened this ten year old kid up, we were in there for almost 6 hours."

Eliza was politely listening, but her head was elsewhere, she found it maddening to beat around the bush regarding issues or topics she wanted to speak of, and she could talk shop to any number of doctor's in her world. She wanted to know other things about the peds surgeon, things that people at Grey Sloan would not divulge to her. She sat with chin in her hand, watching how often Arizona's dimples appeared then ran off, a glorious game of peek a boo as she spoke.

Finally she couldn't hold back any longer, aware of her own hesitation, which threw her for a loop, because this is not who she was, but it is who she became when she was around this brilliant woman sitting across from her, taking a deep breath before speaking. "When you are ready, and there is no timeframe for this, I would like to know about how you lost your leg, Arizona."

Arizona chewed her food slowly, while pondering this proposition. Locking eyes with the woman before, she reached over taking Eliza's hand into her own. "You know what I want right now?" Eliza felt the breath disappear from her lungs as her heart raced at the possibilities. Reaching over Arizona pulled the brunette closer to her, kissing her softly on the check then letting her lips trail their way up to the spot the would linger , whispering ever so slightly. "Pie. I want peach pie, Eliza."

It was in that moment when both of their phones went off simultaneously, and they were rudely catapulted back into reality. The text Arizona received from Bailey make her regret the food she had just eaten.

GET HERE NOW. RICHARD HAS HAD A HEART ATTACK. 

* * *

***Just wondering if you think this is something I should continue, any feedback is welcome. Thanks for taking the time to read! - Cheers


	2. Chapter 2

Dr. Catherine Avery was not one to mince words, especially when it concerned her family. "I don't care what it takes, you will fly Dr. Hahn here if I have to drive that jet myself to pick her up. She has become the best heart surgeon in this country, so you call me when that plane has touched down in Seattle."

Hanging up her phone, the most powerful woman in the hospital tore through the hallway looking for one person; she would find Miranda Bailey, huddled with Maggie going over the test results with images of Richard's heart plastered all around them. "Okay, I want Richard monitored by Dr. Pierce personally until Dr. Hahn gets here. Is that clear? When I say monitored, I mean she does not leave his room, she does not leave his side, not for anything." Miranda's eyes grew wide as she looks toward Pierce who is not sure how to even respond to that request, but knows she should tread lightly with Catherine in this moment. "Dr. Avery did you just say that Erica Hahn is coming to treat Richard?"

"Yes. She should be here within the hour and I want Richard prepped and ready to go into surgery the moment she arrives. We will send her all the scans, and imaging to review on the plane. He is going to need revascularation but let's face it with his past history, my husband 's ventricular function has seen better days." And with that Catherine waltzes out of the room, leaving the stench of her fear behind.

Miranda Bailey, scurries to the desk gathering Richard's chart which they had indeed torn apart, "Well I don't know how to tell her this, but Richard's got bigger fish to fry than his ventricular function. When he fell from the roof, the major proximal tibia fracture along with presentation of deformity with crepitus is not going to make this easy. What in god's name was that man doing on cleaning out gutters at his age!"

Maggie does not even bother to look up from what she is reading, "Have you met his wife?"

Dr. Bailey cocks her head, "That woman could tell you to go play in traffic and you start looking for a busy intersection nearby. I will tell you this much, Dr. Erica Hahn, lord it's a good thing Callie took off half way across the country because she would have been thrown into a tailspin for sure."

Maggie looks perplex as she furrows her brow, "Why would Callie care?"

Putting on her wrinkled white coat, turning to leave she blurts out, "Because she was Callie's first dip into the lady pond if you know what I mean."

Maggie is left alone in the room as she mutters to herself, "Oh. It's never really boring around here on any level is it?"

Eliza drives in silence as the stillness wafts between them; Arizona is trying to gather herself before they arrive at the hospital. Slipping her hand inside to interlock with soft fingers of the woman next to her, still no words are said as the tears begin to fall yet again and Arizona Robbins is falling apart before they have even pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. The car comes to a slow stop, just a few blocks away from their destination. Eliza makes the decision that taking a few minutes to find some solid ground in the moment for Arizona is more important than continuing on. Not entirely sure what to do, Eliza decides to let Arizona guide her on what she needs to rebound and be ready to put on her game face for Richard.

"Why are you stopping?" the watery blue eyes look over her way, and break the brunette's heart.

Twisting herself around in the driver's seat so she can make eye contact, never letting go of the hand still holding hers. "Hey, let's just take a minuet to breathe and ground ourselves, okay. We are about to walk into a sheer shit show of chaos, involving someone you love dearly. I want you to know one thing, I am right here, and I can be and do whatever you need me too, okay Arizona?"

The blonde pulls herself toward Eliza's chest, head buried, letting her fear seep out and onto the woman who continues to amaze her the more time they spend together.

"It's just he.. Richard is the one who always has my back, he is like this giant pillar of support, and he is funny, oh Eliza if you only knew just how funny he can be and he never knows he is being funny, one time…" her words fall away as she realizes this woman is sitting quietly next to her, thumb making soft circles over Arizona's thumb, all her focus and attention is on her. She does not try to make it better or tell her how she should feel, she just lets it happen and it brings a sense of calm over Arizona as she tries to regulate her breath and just find the stillness.

Watching Arizona struggle with all of her emotion makes Eliza see a different side of the peds surgeon, and she finds the vulnerability stunningly beautiful. They sit quietly for just a few minutes more before they make their way down the last few blocks to their dreaded destination. Once Eliza pulls the car into a space, she kills the engine, and reaches over to Arizona, she lets her hand touch her cheek and as her hand falls open to cup the side of her face, she gently pulls her forward and kisses her softly. "You are not alone; I am here with you, even if I am not in the room. Whatever you need, I am right here. Let's go check on Richard,k?"

Arizona lifts the hand still entangled with her own, softly kissing the palm, "Thank you in advance for everything you about to do for me, Eliza. For the first time in a while I do not feel alone."

There are times that the smallest of details become foggy, that you know in the smoldering aftermath remembering the minutia of it all will be a blur. Eliza Minnick walks through the doors of the hospital following a woman she is clearly falling for, praying Arizona will forget just how awful this moment feels.

Arizona did not have to search very far to find out what was happening with Richard, she walked right into the eye of the hurricane. Mother and son raging in and all-out war in front of everyone, as lines were drawn and loyalties tested.

The vein on Jackson Avery's temple looked like had reached its boiling point with the rest of his body following suit, he raged like a river at his mother with little restraint for the arsenal of words flying from his mouth. "Do you want to know who is to blame for all of this? Look in the damn mirror, because the culprit is staring back at you mother. You pushed and pushed until Richard could not take this ridiculous circus you threw him into." Catching a glimpse the woman appearing in his view only enraged him further. "Just can't leave well enough alone, if something is going well, you have this passion, this all-consuming need to destroy it, to destroy people, and it is disgusting. If Richard dies, it's on your hands."

Catherine stands tall like a deep rooted tree, the words from her son lie at her feet like discarded dead leaves; she folds her arms, glancing toward Arizona who is rushing toward them with complete panic smeared all over her face and Eliza respectfully following behind at a distance. "Who taught you to be so dramatic, Jackson Avery? No one is dying, because Erica Hahn is fixing Richards]'s heart and Eliza Minnick will be putting his broken body back together, flawlessly."

They both turn toward the approaching women as Eliza walks into a scene she is completely unprepared for, "Over my dead body." Dr. Jackson Avery spews as he walks away.

Thanks for the great comments, keep them coming and let's see where we want this to go. I appreciate those who have taken the time to read on. - Cheers!


End file.
